Switch
by Flierworks
Summary: Rukawa and Sendoh wake up to find that they have swapped souls. Set in the original manga timeline, post-Sannoh. Eventual SenRu.
1. Chapter 1

**_Chapter One_**

_Why are we having this match?_

Sendoh had first asked him that question after their first one-on-one on a street basketball court near Ryonan, when both were so exhausted they could barely see the rim of the hoop any longer.

_You're still not as good as Sendoh._ It wasn't that he needed to prove anything to his coach, but Rukawa had been curious. If their official matches were anything to go by, Rukawa thought he had matched up well against the Ryonan ace.

Now, though, Rukawa wasn't sure why he was here. It was a Saturday after the nationals, and instead of practicing in the gym like usual he had rode the train, walked to the street basketball court nearest to Ryonan high school to play. And had bumped into the Ryonan captain in a leisurely jog around the school premises.

Recognition registered on the Ryonan's ace face as he spotted Rukawa. "Hey."

Rukawa passed him, ignoring the greeting.

"Hey! Rukawa!"

He sighed imperceptibly, turning around to find Sendoh waving and grinning at him like an idiot before the boy came forward, so close that he was now staring directly at Rukawa's face, his spiky hair and ridiculous good looks taking up the whole of Rukawa's vision. Rukawa didn't know why that made him feel uncomfortable. He looked away fixedly, out the corner of his eye he could make out a playground with children running in groups that just seemed to be the most interesting thing in the world. He could still feel Sendoh's scrutinizing gaze on him, travelling from his forehead to his nose to his lips... Damn it. Rukawa coughed, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, finally lifting his gaze to meet Sendoh's, and then noticed that the other boy looked confused. "What," He snapped irritably.

"You're Rukawa from Shohoku, right?"

Rukawa spun on his heel.

Sendoh yelped. "Ah, wait, wait! Rukawa! Hey."

And then Sendoh said the magic words. "One-on-one?"

He spun around again.

#####

Rukawa crouched, waist low and feet apart, watching Sendoh's dribbling form intently as he waited for an indication of the other man's attack. Sendoh handled the ball with surprising grace for someone of his frame, not in the furiously energetic way Sakuragi did, but with a natural finesse that came with years of practice until it seemed almost careless, yet left no weakness to be exploited.

"So you played Kitasawa," He said.

"Sawakita."

Sendoh looked confused. Rukawa took advantage of his surprise to steal the ball, dribbling once, twice and driving his way towards the basket to deliver a lay-up. _Swoosh._

"His name is Sawakita, " _Idiot_, he almost said, before he remembered that he owed Sendoh a favour for that. _Be nice_, he reminded himself, and scowled his displeasure instead.

Sendoh retrieved the ball, scratching his head apologetically, before sending the ball flying in the air. He turned to look just as the ball fell neatly into the hoop, and turned back to realize that Sendoh was standing, arms-raised, at the edge of the three-point line.

_Screw being nice._

"Bastard." He said before he could stop himself.

Sendoh just looked at him and burst out laughing. "You really are a sore loser."

Rukawa shrugged and made his way to the end of the court to retrieve the ball. The days were getting shorter, he realized, the sun setting on the horizon in splendid hues of orange and crimson. From the center, Sendoh called out to him. "What's the score? I lost count."

He felt a surge of irritation. "98-98, first one to a hundred wins." This guy really needed to put in more effort. "My turn," He added as a reminder.

Sendoh just flashed him another of his smiles. "Aa." Rukawa frowned slightly. There was something off-putting about his smiles - they were friendly enough, but there was also something else in them that lit a competitive fire in him. Rukawa dribbled lightly as Sendoh guarded, changing his pace quickly and surging forward, faking a shoot and taking advantage of the split second confusion to drive his way towards the hoop, sending the ball into the basket with a resounding dunk.

100-98.

#####

They sprawled out on the court. Sendoh took a satisfyingly long drink from his bottle, staring at nothing in particular. Beside him, Rukawa was wiping the sweat out of his eyes on his armband.

"How's Sakuragi?"

Rukawa looked thoughtful for a moment. "Busy with rehab. He hurt his back during the Sannoh match, so he's getting time off to get better."

Sendoh regarded the news with surprise. Sakuragi was the type of guy who defied expectations. He could slam his head into the backboard and still bounce back up right away with a kind of energy that made everyone else sit up and pay attention. It was hard to imagine that self-proclaimed genius sustaining any kind of severe injury that required external help to get better, but then again, this was basketball and none of them were new to injuries.

"Well, send my regards to him."

Rukawa nodded.

"Tell him this tensai is waiting for him."

Rukawa snorted. He laughed. Dark clouds had started to gather in the sky and there was a loud rumble of thunder.

"Well, that's it then. We better go before it starts raining." Sendoh hoisted himself up, dusting his hands on the back of his jersey. Rukawa drew the strings on his bag and stood up, handing Sendoh his duffel wordlessly. "Ah, thanks." Sendoh replied absent-mindedly, eyes still fixed on the sky to scan for any indication of he impending shower. It didn't look encouraging. The dark clouds had given way to large raindrops, pattering around them with a rhythm. Sendoh pulled his jacket over himself and broke into a light jog. "Come on. We can make it to the station if we run."

They made it to the station just as another loud rumble of thunder sent the rain falling in unbridled cascades. "Phew," Sendoh exclaimed, his handsome features lighting into an easy smile, making Rukawa's heart skip a beat. "Just in time!"

Rukawa really needed to sleep. He had just thought of Sendoh as handsome. Rukawa was not bothered by appearances, although the growing membership of the Rukawa Brigade had given him an idea of his physical attractiveness in the eyes of the opposite gender, but Sendoh? He… had never thought much about Sendoh, not in _that_ way at least.

He sighed, bid his goodbye and headed for the platform, noticing only several moments later that Sendoh remained at his side. Now he was hallucinating. Rukawa had heard somewhere that people started to hallucinate if they didn't get enough sleep. Maybe that was what it was, he told himself. After all, he needed more sleep than the average person.

"Um, Rukawa?" The hallucination spoke, tapping him on his shoulder.

No, this couldn't be real. Breathe, he told himself, breathe. It was going to be okay.

"Yes," He replied dazedly, shaking his head slightly as if he expected it to go away.

"It's pouring. I don't think you'll make it home without getting drenched. Should we grab dinner? There's a good place for ramen just around the corner, we could make it there without getting caught in the rain."

"I'm… uh," He stammered, but Sendoh's hand was already on his elbow, dragging them forward insistently through the rush hour crowd at the station.

#####

They entered the shop. It was a tiny place, with a single counter and barely enough space for the kitchen, and people sidled up against one another to move in and out of the shop. "Ah, Sendoh-kun, good to see you!" A man in his mid-thirties, presumably the owner, greeted Sendoh warmly, ushering the towards the seats at the corner. "You'll have the usual tonkotsu, up-sized, I assume, and your friend…" He trailed off, regarding Rukawa good-naturedly with a smile.

"Ah, I almost forgot." Sendoh hung their bags on the rack against the wall and settled into his seat. "Oita-san, this is Rukawa from Shohoku, the ace player. My biggest rival." He added, winking at Rukawa. "Wow, that is surprising! Sendoh openly admitting that he has a rival." The owner exclaimed. "You must be really good at basketball, then." He regarded Rukawa, then the beaming Sendoh, his arms continued in practiced motions the whole time until two steaming bowls of ramen were set on the counter.

"Dig in, then." He said, and then to Rukawa - "I made you Sendoh's favourite. I hope you like it." Rukawa felt like Sendoh's girlfriend.

"Thank you," He said, all the same.

The ramen was good, Rukawa decided. He even had seconds and a plate of gyoza. Sendoh clearly was a regular, chatting alternately with Rukawa and the owner as he shoved food into his mouth with gusto. Rukawa ate quietly, listening. "-and then it started raining, so we had to run to the station. It's raining so much these days."

"Yeah, and soon it will be autumn." Oita-san said, between delivering another customer's ramen on the counter and wiping the vacated table next to them. "Time really does fly. You guys are preparing for the winter matches, right? Oh, Rukawa-kun. How about a plate of gyoza? Don't be polite, it's on me. Sendoh-kun, you too, go ahead."

By the time they exited the shop, satiated, the rain had let up considerably. Sendoh borrowed an umbrella from the shopowner, insisting on walking with Rukawa to the station. "My house in on the other side of the station, so it's on the way. You know Denny's? It's right above. Seventh floor."

"Hn."

The earlier shower had made the air feel colder, and Rukawa felt a sudden chill as a gentle breeze passed them. He zipped up his jacket and felt a sense of relief wash over him as the train station came into view.

"Thanks for the game today."

Sendoh brushed it off easily. "No worries, it was fun."

"See you, then." He gave a last nod in the older boy's direction and bounded up the platform.

Sendoh watched Rukawa as he boarded the train, and remained there for a long time after.

#####

Rukawa awoke with a start. Blinking once, twice, he surveyed his surroundings and the train handrails came into review. Had he fallen asleep on the train? He looked outside. The buildings looked familiar, so he hadn't yet missed his stop. He sighed again, feeling strangely lethargic. Maybe he was coming down with something. That would certainly explain why he felt so odd. He felt his forehead, but there were no signs of a fever. He would drop by the pharmacy on his way home, he decided. Perhaps a painkiller or two would help. And then he could sleep the whole thing off.

The train pulled to a stop. "Shohoku Station."

"Shohoku Station."

He exited the station and turned a corner. On the other side of the road, he glimpsed Miyagi Ryota, the new Shohoku captain, twirling a ball in his fingers, presumably having finished a workout.

The captain seemed to have spotted him as well, but instead of a friendly acknowledgement, his eyes narrowed in what seemed to be a challenging gaze.

Rukawa was confused. He knew he wasn't well-liked, but he wasn't used to having someone that wasn't Sakuragi on their team look at him with such animosity.

He crossed the road quickly and noticed that the other did not follow suit. "Hi," He managed a quick greeting, bowing his head slightly.

"Hi," Miyagi said. "Fancy bumping into you here."

_I live here._ He wanted to say, even more confused. He shook his head again, feeling a nagging heaviness on his skull. "I, uh, was practicing. I'm heading home now."

Miyagi was regarding him with something between suspicion and confusion. "The station is that way," he jerked a thumb in the opposite direction where Rukawa had come from.

"I… know." His head ached. He needed those painkillers and some sleep, desperately.

"Well, then." Miyagi said eventually, giving a slight nod in his direction before turning to leave. Rukawa watched him take a few steps, before spinning around again.

"We'll beat Ryonan even without Akagi. You'll see, Sendoh."

Rukawa froze.

_Sendoh?_

Had their captain lost his mind? Which part of him looked even remotely like Sendoh?

Wait. He hesistantly looked down as his hands. They felt normal, callused. Then a glimpse of black basketball shoes caught his eye. _Wait, these aren't mine…_ He thought suddenly. His head ached warningly when he tried to recall anything about the earlier events of the day. Sleep, he finally decided. He needed some medication and sleep. He would figure this out later.

No one else was around when Rukawa arrived home. He downed some painkillers with a swig of water and headed for a quick shower before collapsing on the bed, exhausted.

#####

The throbbing headache was gone when he awoke. It was bright outside, so he must have slept through the night.

He rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Releasing the tap, he threw water over his face, leaving a cooling sensation against his slightly flushed face. Then he looked up in the mirror and stilled, suddenly.

Rukawa's heart pounded hard in his chest, like he had just done twenty laps around the court. He closed his eyes and shook his head, once, twice, before opening them again unsurely.

_Fancy bumping into you here._

_The station is that way._

_We'll beat Ryonan even without Akagi. You'll see, Sendoh._

_Sendoh…_

In the mirror, the familiar reflection of Sendoh Akira stared back at him unsmilingly.

Rukawa swore aloud.

* * *

><p><strong>Author notes:<strong> This was born out of boredom and procrastination, heavily influenced by every single body switch story you have ever read in your life. I'm intending for this to be a multi-chaptered fic, though I hope it will not go longer than 5 chapters (we'll see about that). It really depends on how much fun I have writing Rukawa and Sendoh with switched bodies. Not much of it has been addressed here, but hopefully the next chapter should be funnier, and more fun.

This is entirely work-in-progress, so feel free to ask questions and give me ideas. I have a vague idea of how I want this to go, but as it is with writing things rarely go according to plan. Reviews are welcome and greatly appreciated! Where's the Senru, you ask? Well... we'll get there, I promise.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter Two_**

Rukawa burst out the door, ignoring his mother and sister's surprised cries. He certainly did not want to be caught in the situation of explaining why they had a stranger in the house. Or have to explain that he wasn't a stranger. He swore again, a lump of panic rising in his throat. He needed to find Sendoh. At least, he figured, Sendoh might be going through the same thing. Or… would he? Rukawa didn't know, but his brain firmly told him. _Find Sendoh first._

In the distance, he saw the familiar sight of the Shohoku train station and picked up speed, rushing past giggling teenage couples and families and made his way on to the platform. The train for Ryonan was getting ready to leave and with a sudden burst of energy he all but rammed him against the closing doors until they gave way, throwing him off balance into the train as the doors closed behind him, while onlookers threw him glances of disapproval.

The ride between Shohoku and Ryonan took fifteen minutes and he stood, his right hand alternating between clenching and unclenching on the handrail as he thought furiously. He was with Sendoh the day before. They had played basketball at a street court, and then it had rained and they had gone for dinner. Then he had gone home. And when he woke up in the morning, he was Sendoh. No, he corrected, he had _become_ Sendoh. He looked down with a start, realizing that he below his simple t-shirt he was wearing the trackpants he had changed into after his shower the day before and the black sneakers he – he meant Sendoh – had favoured. He had slipped into them in a rush in the morning, so he had not noticed until now. He looked up again at the train window, squinting until he could see his reflection. Sendoh's reflection stared back at him unhappily.

_This is real._ He thought to himself, feeling the panic that had ebbed away in his adrenaline rush creep in again. _Fuck._

The train slowed to a stop and a chirpy female voice announced that he had arrived at his destination. He walked past the crowd in a daze, nearly tripping on the escalator, and hoped he – _Sendoh_, his brain corrected – wouldn't run into anyone he – _Sendoh _– knew. As soon as he exited the station he came face-to-face with two Ryonan basketball team members wearing their jerseys and immediately looked away, praying that they had not spotted him.

"Good morning, Captain!"

_Fuck._

Breathing deeply, he turned back to face them, gathering his features as best as he could into what he thought was an impression of a Sendoh smile. He recognized the one on the left as Aida Hikoichi, the short, enthusiastic first-year from Ryonan's basketball team who collected game and player statistics. The one on the right, though… Rukawa racked his brains furiously, but couldn't come up with anything.

"Good morning, Aida-kun and er…" Rukawa trailed off. Hikoichi looked surprised, used to being addressed by his first name and to Rukawa's relief, the other boy looked more nervous than disappointed. Clearly he hadn't expected to be recognized at all.

"I'm Kurose Takamine, Sendoh-san." he introduced himself, drawing himself up to full height and then bowing respectfully from his waist down at Rukawa. "I just transferred to Ryonan last week, and Aida-kun said I would be a good addition to the team. I was told you were unable to attend training last week, so it is a great pleasure to finally meet you." The boy was babbling at this point, visibly starstruck, and Rukawa shifted impatiently, scanning the vicinity for the ramen restaurant he had visited the day before. The station was more crowded the day before, so he had not managed to get his bearings, only blindly following Sendoh's lead. "I used to play point guard for my team back in middle school, and also for my first few months in my high school in Osaka. I will do my best. Please take care of me." His head snapped back down into a ninety-degree bow. Rukawa scratched his head, uncomfortable at his formality. Was did what Sendoh dealt with on a regular basis? Thank God Shohoku was a small team, and everyone spoke openly to each other.

"Uh, well," he cleared his throat and the boy looked at him expectantly. He extended a hand and hope Sendoh did the same. "Welcome to the team, Kurose-kun. We look forward to having you here."

The boy looked stunned.

Hikoichi, who had been quietly observing their exchange piped up suddenly. "Oh, isn't that vice captain Koshino-senpai?" he said, looking past Rukawa to wave behind him.

"NO!" Rukawa snapped. Hikoichi and the new boy gaped as his outburst, momentarily forgetting about the vice-captain. He recovered quickly. He had to get out of here before he ran into anyone else. Sendoh was clearly popular, and Ryonan's basketball club had a large membership. Rukawa knew he had to excuse himself before someone realized something was amiss. He breathed and tried again. "Sorry. Look, I'm actually in a hurry. I'm… meeting someone at, "He furiously invented. "At… ah…" And then he remembered. _My house in on the other side of the station, so it's on the way. You know Denny's? It's right above. Seventh floor._

"At..?" The two boys echoed.

"Denny's." Rukawa finished. He breathed again. "I need to get to Denny's. Do any of you know where that is?"

"It's right there, walk straight, and take the left after you've passed the second pedestrian crossing."

"Thanks. I'll see you both!" He said gratefully and sprinted away, ignoring Koshino's surprised cries behind him asking what he had done to his hair.

It took him over five minutes to find the family restaurant, his eyes scanning the countless signs on both sides of the road until they settled on the unlit neon sign that read Denny's behind a parking lot. Panting, but with a newfound burst of energy, he broke into a run, narrowly missing a passing cyclist, who had to swerve to avoid him.

A loud thud made Rukawa turn back to look, realizing that the cyclist had collided into a lamppost and was now looking back at him, pain written over his features. His familiar-looking features…

Rukawa realized with a start that he was looking at himself.

#####

Rukawa approached the cyclist cautiously, helping him to stand. Around them, a crowd of concerned bylookers were starting to gather at the word of an accident, quiet murmurs rising and falling. The face of Rukawa Kaede had sustained a nasty cut on the forehead and was now dripping blood over the fingers he had pressed to his face. The shock in his eyes mirrored Rukawa's own, and so Rukawa lowered his voice to a pitch where the others could not hear. "Sendoh, is that you?"

His lookalike studied him quickly, taking in Rukawa's – Sendoh's - unstyled hair that fell limply in front of his eyes and travelling down to the unmistakable black sneakers. "…Rukawa? You… What happened to my hair?" He – Sendoh – looked positively dismayed.

Rukawa had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. "Look, Sendoh," He said with urgency, addressing his doppelganger. "I need to talk to you." He dragged his eyes over the crowd. "Somewhere private." He added quickly.

Sendoh nodded. "Let's go to my apartment. My parents are out of town, so we don't have to worry about them for the time being." He knelt to retrieve his bicycle and led the way, while Rukawa followed silently, eager to get away from the crowd.

#####

They sat facing each other on Sendoh's apartment floor in the living room, Rukawa carefully balancing a first-aid kit on his lap while reaching out to dab a clear liquid over the cut awkwardly.

His face winced.

"Do you remember when this happened?" Sendoh asked him in his voice. It felt weird, listening to his own voice address him.

"I only realized this morning when I woke up and saw your reflection in my mirror," He replied, hands rummaging in the kit until he found what he needed. "Here, hold your hair up for me," he said, picking up a gauze pad from the pile. Sendoh obeyed, and he pressed the pad against the cut, securing it by circling the bandages around the back of his head with his free hand. Rukawa leaned in to check that the bandages were secure, coming so close to his own face that their noses were almost touching. Sendoh coughed.

"Thanks," His reflection smiled at him when he was done.

"No problem." _That's my face_, he almost added but stopped himself in time. "We need to figure out what to do next about… this."

"Well, I could live with it." Sendoh said a tad too cheerfully. "It could be fun, see?" He pulled at his – Rukawa's – cheek, making Rukawa wince internally. He let out a sigh of frustration. This conversation was not going anywhere. They had matched their stories while Rukawa tended to Sendoh's cut. Sendoh, alike him, had discovered the switch when he woke up in the morning, but after tracing back to their game the night before they had been unable to come up with anything that could make their souls switch back. Sendoh did not look too bothered by their whole predicament, but Rukawa was anxious to get things back to normal, and he could not do it without Sendoh's cooperation.

Rukawa decided he had to change strategies.

"I'll ruin your reputation." He threatened.

"I'll make peace with Sakuragi."

"I'll make Fukuda captain."

Sendoh actually perked up at that. "That's a really good idea," He breathed. "Could you? It gets tiring being captain."

He felt a flicker of irritation. "Don't do the puppy-eyed look with my face."

"I'll miss all your free throws on purpose."

Sendoh grinned. "I'll sleep with all the girls in your fanclub."

_That bastard._

Sendoh watched Rukawa - his - face turn an interesting shade of purple. It was in honesty a delight to see this range of new expressions on his face. Rukawa was a very different person, mused Sendoh. His version of Sendoh frowned instead of smiled all the time, but there was a certain weight, an intensity in his gaze that replaced his own nonchalance, which was interesting to observe.

"Come on, Rukawa. It's not like we figured out a way to switch ourselves back. Anyway, we would have to pull this off until we figure it out."

Rukawa thought about it. Now that he had calmed down enough to analyze the situation, he found himself agreeing that it wasn't all that bad. It worried him that Sendoh would be taking his place at team practice, but at least he trusted Sendoh's skills enough to know that his performance would not be affected. The All Japan Youth Camp had ended, so he didn't have to worry about that for now, and the winter games were at least a few months away, which would hopefully give them enough time to figure something out.

Sendoh watched him carefully.

He exhaled in a resigned breath. "Fine."

"Eh?"

"Let's do this." Rukawa said more loudly his time, narrowing his eyes at Sendoh's smiling face. "But don't smile like that with my face. It gives me the creeps."

"Only if you learn to style my hair."

#####

It was Sunday. So that gave the both of them time to learn about each other – from habits, to family members, to the people they ought to recognize at school. Thankfully for Rukawa, Sendoh's father was on a short-term work assignment in Kyushu and would not be back for another few months, while his mother was in Tokyo where their family originally resided to tend to Sendoh's ailing grandfather. Sendoh had no siblings, no commitments outside of class and basketball, no food allergies, and didn't seem too caught up in any detail of his life… apart from his hair.

Rukawa gritted his teeth, listening to Sendoh's explanation of how to style his hair for the tenth time that afternoon.

"You have to spray it from the bottom-up while it's still hot. You can use the gel after, but the spray is what keeps it up." A hand waved in front of him. "Rukawa, are you listening?"

"I just don't understand why you can't keep it down." He muttered unhappily, picking up the comb he had thrown down in exhaustion, and flipping the switch on the hairdryer with his other hand, which roared to life. After Sendoh has happy with the result, he switched it off, picking up the hairspray and applying a generous amount over the drying spikes, feeling strangely victorious that they now remained pointy instead of falling over in limp strands against his forehead. Then he dipped his fingers into the bottle of gel, coating the spikes well and giving them a final upward tug so they stayed in place, before turning back to face Sendoh.

"There, happy? How many bottles of this thing do you use anyway?"

His face smiled at him. Rukawa glared at it accusingly until Sendoh eventually replaced it with his trademark frown.

He sat back, satisfied. "Moving on," Sendoh said suddenly, "Is there anyone I haven't met that you hang out with on a regular basis in school? Any _girls_, for example." He paused after the word 'girls' as if trying to make an impact.

Rukawa ignored this but thought about Sendoh's question carefully for a while. "Not really," he replied honestly. "There are my classmates – Year 1 Class 10, that is, but I sleep through all my classes..." "Except English," he added hastily at Sendoh's scandalized expression. "And then there's the basketball team, which you've already met. Oh, Haruko recently joined as our manager, but you may already recognize her. She's Captain Akagi's younger sister."

Sendoh didn't know, but didn't think of it as much trouble.

"You… may have to be careful around her." Rukawa warned. "She, uh.."

"Likes you?" Sendoh finished for him.

Rukawa gave him the look. "No, she just observes a lot on the court, so she can tell when something is off with me, or with any of the other players. The same goes for Ayako-senpai."

_You're just dense_, Sendoh thought to himself. "So," he summarized, "That's Miyagi, Mitsui, Sakuragi, Ayako, Haruko, the coach Anzai-sensei… that's all I have to know? How about your fanclub? Any names?"

Rukawa scratched his head. "I think there might have been a Fujii, and a Sugihara… or was it Sugino? Hn."

"No names," Sendoh decided finally. "Got it."

Rukawa nodded, but still looked worried.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter Three_**

Rukawa had never considered himself the sentimental sort. Sure, he had fought alongside his teammates to conquer the strongest team in the nation, but even Akagi and Kogure's moving retirement speech, during which many of the first and second years had shed tears, had barely eked a response out of him. Hell, he was a man, he was the Ice Prince of Shohoku, or whatever it was people now decided to call him. It didn't matter. Rukawa Kaede simply did not concern himself with very much apart from playing basketball.

And so it was a mystery to him why he suddenly missed Shohoku now, when Taoka Moichi, former point guard of the Japan national team, two-time MVP and current coach of the Ryonan High School Basketball Team, standing on the sidelines observing their practice game, had his hands balled into fists and shaking in the direction of the court.

"SENDOH - " Taoka roared, temporarily disabling Rukawa's ability to decide if he should adopt a fast break, drop the ball and stuff his fingers in his ears, or give up basketball completely. "Pass the ball, you moron."

He grit his teeth and passed left to Fukuda, who delivered a quick lay-up just as the whistle blew. It was only the end of the first half of their practice match, but somehow Rukawa felt more exhausted than he had been in a real game. The first years swarmed up in droves to him, offering fresh towels and refreshments, like it was something to brag home to if their captain accepted their drink. Rukawa scanned through the sea of eager faces until he spotted Hikoichi fighting his way through the crowd.

"Great play, Sendoh-san!" Hikoichi exclaimed with his usual vigor, outstretched hand clamped around a can of Pocari Sweat which Rukawa gratefully accepted. "This year will be Ryonan's year."

"Hell if it will be Ryonan's year if he keeps that up," Taoka growled from behind him. The first years cowered, and even Fukuda and Koshino began to walk discretely away, paling visibly. Rukawa turned, hoping Sendoh's face would not betray the dismay he currently felt.

Taoka had his arms folded across his chest. Rukawa was taller, but Taoka decidedly had more clout, his eyes flashing as he regarded Rukawa, although it was Hikoichi he addressed.

"Aida-kun, what are Sendoh's game stats for the first half?"

"25 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, sir," Hikoichi recited without a hint of doubt.

"And his average?" The coach pressed, gaze never leaving Rukawa.

Aida removed his statistics book from under his arm and flipped a few pages. "18.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 9.7 assists and 2.7 steals."

Rukawa was beginning to understand where this was going.

"I know you're more used to playing small forward, Sendoh," Taoka began calmly, although his face was starting to contort alarmingly at the effort it took, "but there was a reason I made you a point guard in the match we had against Kainan. Do you remember what it was?"

Rukawa was a basketball player. He prided himself on marking another player by following even the subtlest of his eye movements, to determine if he was about to fake, pass or shoot. This experience was also extremely valuable off the courts, as he had realized after getting into too many fights at the rooftop of the school building. Based on his years of extensive experience, Rukawa concluded that Coach Taoka was ready to murder him any moment now.

"Your game awareness, Sendoh. It's not just about having flawless technique, Sendoh, but you have an innate understanding of the game. You don't just motivate your team, you need to enable them to do well. But right now, you're not focused on making the game. You've barely said a word to your teammates since you reported for practice today. And now you're just off doing your own thing on the courts. You're not that arrogant Shohoku bastard, Sendoh, stop acting like him."

_Arrogant Shohoku bastard?_ He twitched before he could help himself.

"Sir, I don't –"

"And why do you look half-asleep? You're the captain," Taoka was screeching now, "The responsibility to lead the team rests on your shoulders. Wake up!" Hikoichi was looking at him with a mix of helplessness and sympathy in his eyes.

"Koshino, you take over as guard, and Sendoh -" Taoka narrowed his eyes at Rukawa, "twenty laps around the court, now!"

"But coach," he protested, indignation rising in him, "the game…"

Taoka cut him off firmly. "Now, or it will be thirty."

#####

There was something off about Rukawa, Ayako decided, as she watched the team practice. There had been instances in the past when she could feel a burst of adrenaline from the silent boy, particularly when he had first made it his goal to be the best high school player in Japan, but this was different. And from the way Haruko's brows furrowed, Ayako knew she was not the only one to notice it.

"Ayako-senpai," Haruko murmured in a low whisper as her gaze swept over the courts again. "Rukawa-kun…"

"I know," Ayako whispered back, her eyes still fixed on the court as Rukawa performed a fake to throw off a second-year defender and drove under the basket for a quick layup, earning a free throw in the process. "I know. I'm trying to figure it out too."

To the undiscerning, Rukawa looked completely like his normal self out on the courts. It was a regular practice match, with the first years against the second and third years, and he was in top-form. Miyagi gave a loud cry of frustration as Rukawa dodged his attempted steal and passed the ball to a team mate.

"Did we miss something?" Haruko whispered, genuine confusion in her tone while scribbling in her notebook as the first years' team scored again.

"I don't know," Ayako whispered back.

From the bench, Sakuragi narrowed his eyes but did not say anything.

Haruko turned her attention back to the court just as the whistle blew. Rukawa's team had won and the players were now giving each other high fives. Mitsui grumbled inaudibly about first years having too much energy. The Rukawa brigade began to celebrate, and as usual everyone ignored them… until Rukawa turned to them, and made a gesture for them to quieten down so the team could hear what Anzai-sensei had to say.

Everyone stared. Haruko's mouth dropped open in shock. Even Anzai-sensei paused in his debrief and just looked at him for a moment. It was still not as unnerving to Sendoh as the stares from a few of the girls in the Rukawa brigade, their lips quivering and eyes brimming with tears.

"Okay," said Sakuragi finally, voicing the question that was on everyone's minds. "What the _hell_ is wrong with you?"

His voice was drowned out by the shrieks from the Rukawa brigade, which became louder at the realization that Rukawa Kaede had just acknowledged his fans.

Anzai-sensei just chuckled and dismissed the team before all hell broke loose.

####

"I'm not done," Sakuragi insisted loudly. After the rest of the Shohoku team had left the locker room, he had come up to Sendoh with a look of suspicion on his face. "What's going on with you?"

Sendoh closed Rukawa's locker door and turned to face him expressionlessly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The hell you don't," The redhead growled.

Sendoh sighed and made a mental note to himself never to do as much as acknowledge Rukawa's fanclub existence ever again.

"You are not making any sense, and I need to practice."

Sakuragi seemed unconvinced.

"Haruko is looking for you."

Sendoh took advantage of Sakuragi's split-second lapse in concentration, taking off quickly before the redhead could catch him.

####

Rukawa thought he must have looked reasonably depressed, as Sendoh gave him a sympathetic smile when he walked into the living room of the other boy's apartment, collapsing onto the floor immediately.

"It's better when you get used to it."

He missed the nurturing Anzai-sensei. Hell, he even missed Ayako-senpai and her paper fan.

"Have you had his image training yet? It's horrible. He makes us close our eyes and imagine all the practices we've had."

Rukawa had not had to do it yet, but thought he had plenty to imagine, even with only one Ryonan practice under his belt.

"Anyway," Sendoh interrupted his thoughts, "I thought I might catch you before I head over to your house for dinner. These are yours." He rummaged in his bag and pulled out a pile of letters, setting them on the ground between them. Rukawa leaned over, running his gaze over the feminine choice of stationery and neat handwriting. _To Rukawa-kun,_ they read.

"There were some more in your shoe cupboard. I had to take these out so there was space for your shoes." Sendoh explained.

Rukawa eyed the letters suspiciously. "You didn't…"

"No," said Sendoh, a little too quickly.

Rukawa looked at him. Sendoh sighed. He was getting a lot of these weird stares recently.

"Okay, okay," he said, holding up his hands in mock surrender, "during practice I accidentally, how do I say this, I kinda just _nodded_ at them and they… pretty much went berserk. I'm… sorry."

"That's it?"

"That's it." He agreed eagerly, deciding that it wouldn't be wise to tell Rukawa about how Sakuragi was quick to sense that there was something different about him. Also, apparently Rukawa was more of a heartless bastard than Sendoh had thought, as any hint of him as much as interacting with people was sending weird looks his way at school.

He looked at Rukawa, who seemed to consider this carefully.

"Next time, just ignore them." The boy finally said.

Sendoh heaved an internal sigh of relief.

"And I don't need these." Rukawa waved dismissively at the letters. "You can do whatever you want with them."

Sendoh's eyes gleamed.

"Okay, no."

He deflated instantly.

"You are really popular with girls, you know," Sendoh suddenly said, thoughtful. "Why don't you have a girlfriend yet?"

"You don't, either." He pointed out, not really thinking that this was the sort of thing he wanted to be discussing with his basketball rival.

"How do you know?"

Rukawa glared at him. "You do?" He did not like the idea of having to deal with a relationship and more importantly, why hadn't Sendoh mentioned this earlier? It was difficult enough trying to play like Sendoh on the courts without raising suspicion, especially when Rukawa was beginning to realize that Sendoh's playing style during their one-on-ones was not a true indication of how well he played in a team. There was truth in Coach Taoka's words during practice about the Ryonan ace being better gamemaker than he was. Despite being the aces of their respective teams, Rukawa could see now that he and Sendoh were two completely different types of players. Having to deal with girls was just about the last thing on his mind, especially since Sendoh… well, he didn't know what kind of girls Sendoh dated, but he sure as hell knew they wouldn't like dating him instead.

"Just kidding, I don't," Sendoh said quickly as he watched Rukawa's face turn colour. "By the way, what are you planning to do for dinner? My parents are out of town, so there will be no one in the house. If you want, you could come over, I mean, it's your house after all and I don't think your family would mind if their son has a friend over. Hey, where are you going?"

"To practice," Rukawa said simply, like it was obvious.

"But… how about dinner?"

"Later," came the irritable reply.

"I'll come too."

Rukawa batted Sendoh's outstretched hand away, but looked him seriously in the eye. "I don't want to play you alone, Sendoh. I want to play you when you're at your best – in a team." Then he lowered his eyes, not wanting to have to answer any more of Sendoh's questions, unspoken but lingering nevertheless in his concerned gaze. "You can make it back for dinner at my place if you go now," He said finally, "I will grab something on my own later."

Sendoh could only shake his head in disbelief at the boy's retreating figure, wondering to himself what could have possibly happened at Ryonan's training that day.

* * *

><p><strong>Author notes<strong>: Happy New Year, guys! I'm sorry it took a while with this chapter. It was actually pretty tough to write. I tried to keep it light, but there are a lot of practical things to address when you have Rukawa and Sendoh switch souls, like how there would be a big difference in their playing styles and how they interact with people, which I wanted to address in this chapter. I hope it didn't get too boring.

Also hoping that the SenRu romance will somehow just… happen. *wrings hands in despair* These muses can be so uncooperative. Well I feel like Sendoh is trying while Rukawa is just being… moody.

Also, It can get a bit confusing, so it helps to remember that Sendoh is actually Rukawa physically, and vice versa. See you next chapter, and thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter Four_**

It was not his day, Mr. Tanaka decided, as he straightened his back and walked into Year 1 Class 10 of Shohoku High School. He wondered why he had ever thought teaching was a good idea. The pay was mediocre and a joke at class reunions, although the work took so much more effort than people gave him credit for. To make things worse, kids these days were getting less and less cooperative. He had just got out of a especially disastrous session in Year 1 Class 7, where Sakuragi and his friends were being more disruptive than usual, and the rest of the class had been more interested to watch him tell them off than complete their assignments. These sportsmen, he thought to himself ruefully. He would have thrown a complete fit and told them to get out of his class, if they didn't tower over him so menacingly that he feared for his life. He wasn't oblivious to the rumours, after all, and Sakuragi and his gang were legend.

Patience was a virtue, he thought, as he stepped up to the podium and set his math textbook and assignments down.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Rukawa Kaede sitting at the back of his class. The boy was awake, which was rare, but he was also deeply engrossed in something outside the window.

Tanaka felt a prickle of irritation but crushed it quickly. It wasn't worth sacrificing his teaching career over something as trivial as getting riled up by one or two uncooperative students. Rukawa Kaede wasn't as aggressive as Sakuragi Hanamichi, but he wasn't sure it was worth incurring the wrath of this boy, either.

Patience was a –

Rukawa yawned and rubbed his eyes.

Something in him snapped. "If you have time to stare out the window and enjoy the scenery, perhaps you would like to enlighten the class how the next question is solved, Rukawa."

The boy looked at him, sleepiness evident in his eyes, although it also seemed like his brain was processing this new information. He stood up, and Tanaka took an involuntary step back as the boy towered over him.

"Ru-Rukawa," He stuttered nervously, the situation triggering an acute sense of déjà vu in his mind. "You know you can get expelled for getting into fights."

But the boy only walked past him to the blackboard, surveying with half-lidded eyes the complicated equation before picking up a piece of chalk and twirling it in his fingers as he thought. Then, without hesitation, the chalk scratched across the blackboard, covering half of it with written calculations to arrive at the final solution with a flourish.

Tanaka blinked. The equation had been today's assignment. The class hadn't even learnt how to solve it yet.

Before waiting for his approval, Rukawa yawned again, shuffling back to his seat and settling into a nice position for sleep.

Tanaka stared after him.

It was really not his day.

#####

"Good afternoon, team!" Sendoh's cheerful voice echoed around the gymnasium walls.

"Good afternoon, captain!" The team boomed back, as Taoka smiled to no one in particular.

"What's gotten into you?" Koshino muttered under his breath as the team fell into line and started warming up.

Rukawa half-smiled at him. "Just thought Taoka-sensei made some sense during yesterday's training." He picked up speed, leaving Koshino shaking his head in confusion.

#####

"Rukawa," Mitsui called out behind him, "Remember to pick up your jersey before you leave for the day."

"Thanks," Sendoh said absently.

"That's mine," Miyagi pointed out.

"Oh," Sendoh looked down in his hands at the unfamiliar red and black colours proclaiming No. 7 on the Shohoku basketball jersey, and then up at his teammates questioning eyes. He kicked himself mentally. "Oh, sorry, wasn't, er, wasn't looking."

Sakuragi cursed loudly and stalked out of the locker room. And then stomped back in again when everyone else had left.

"Stop playing nice. We never pass the ball to each other."

"Well, we can start," offered Sendoh, shelving that tidbit of information away for future reference when Ryonan next had to play Shohoku.

"I don't need _you_, of all people, idiot fox. I can get those rebounds myself." Sakuragi still had to be taken out every half-game, just to be sure he wasn't overexerting his back.

"That's not what it is." Sendoh sighed, thinking to himself that Rukawa really gave Sakuragi too little credit. The redhead was smarter than he looked, and despite his lack of experience was possibly the person most familiar with Rukawa's play, apart from Sendoh himself.

"I know something's up with you," Sakuragi hissed. "And if you are not going to tell me, I'm going to figure this out by myself."

#####

"Why are you wearing Rukawa's school uniform?"

Rukawa froze as Koshino picked up his carelessly discarded _gakuran_ from the floor, examining the Kanji characters for 'Rukawa' neatly sewed on the inside of the left collar.

He cursed internally. The Ryonan and Shohoku uniforms were exactly identical and he and Sendoh were around the same built anyway, so he had suggested that they keep their uniforms and switch only the collar pins with each other's school emblems. He quickly tried to snatch it out of Koshino's hands, but the vice captain held on, with a determined set to his jaw.

"Sendoh," he started hesitantly, looking from the uniform to Sendoh. "Sendoh, we've been teammates for a while now right?"

"Yeah," Rukawa answered, thinking furiously. "Yeah, look, it's nothing. I've been meeting Rukawa on and off to play basketball, so we must have accidentally switched our uniforms."

He saw Koshino's expression change. "Sendoh, could it possibly be… do- do you…"

This was bad. Koshino was looking as if he thought Sendoh was leaving the team, or possibly the school altogether. Until they had figured a way to switch themselves back, Rukawa could not risk either of them getting into a situation like this. He needed to think, he needed to -

"Like men?" Koshino finished in a whisper, and then literally jumped back, horrified at himself for even saying Sendoh's secret out loud so carelessly.

_Wait, what?_

"And you've been keeping this a secret for so long, from me, from us? Oh Sendoh…"

Rukawa backed away from Koshino's eager, outstretched arms.

"We wouldn't," The vice captain finished hoarsely. "Me, Fukuda, Uozumi-senpai, Taoka-sensei, the team we -" His stopped, and Rukawa was alarmed to see the Ryonan vice captain choking up a little. "Why did you even think you had to keep this a secret from us? I should have known, you were acting strange for a while. You were worried about how we would think, right? I am such a fool, I - "

"Er, Koshino, I appreciate your, uh, concern - " Rukawa hastily cut in before the boy could continue, "but this is not - "

"Not what?" Uozumi's voice sounded behind them. "I thought I heard my name."

Oh god, Rukawa thought.

"Uozumi-senpai!" Koshino exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Uozumi shrugged his large shoulders a little sheepishly. Alike him, Akagi and Kogure also visited the Shohoku team often before they headed off to cram school to prepare for university entrance exams. Kogure brought in refreshments for them each time and stayed for a while to chat, while Akagi was mostly gruff, and mostly watched them quietly from the sidelines, although his eyes were sharp. Clearly, despite having already retired, the third years were still very much invested in their teams.

"Not what, Sendoh?" Uozumi said again, looking directly at him. "If this is going to affect the team, I will have to get involved."

Rukawa swallowed.

Koshino stepped in quickly. "Er, senpai, could I have a word with you outside?"

Too stunned to respond, Rukawa could only watch helplessly as Koshino led Uozumi out of the locker room. _I got this_, Koshino mouthed to him before shutting the door behind them.

When the ex-captain stepped back in, he did not say a word, just walked up to Rukawa and clapped him on the back with all the encouragement he could muster. It felt like an iron bar had collided with his trapezius muscles, effectively disabling all forms of communication Rukawa had thought of attempting.

Koshino would not look at him without tearing up for the rest of practice that day.

#####

Sendoh was in the apartment before he reached again, dressed in his Shohoku sports jacket.

"Your vice-captain is _insane_."

Sendoh waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Koshino has his moments, but he's very reliab - "

"Your teammates think you are gay," He interrupted.

Sendoh blinked.

"Gay," Rukawa repeated, in case he hadn't heard it the first time.

"With who?" Sendoh asked curiously.

"With me." He said grimly.

Peals of laughter filled the room. Sendoh wiped at his eyes, still chuckling like this was the funniest thing he had ever heard. "I figured they would think that some day, after all the female attention I have unwittingly had to turn down." He feigned an expression of mock hurt.

He felt a flicker of irritation at the other boy's nonchalance. "Look, this is not the _time_ -"

"HAHAHAHA -"

"- to be bragging about your popularity -"

"I still can't believe Koshino said this."

"Are you listening to me?" He snapped.

Sendoh had stopped laughing and was now staring at him, mirth evident in his eyes. "And what do you think?"

"I am NOT in LOVE with you." Rukawa said, horrified.

His doppelgänger was silent for a moment. "You invited me to play one-on-one with you."

"That was only because - "

"We went on a ramen date."

"I was hungry. _You_ were hungry."

Sendoh's gaze trailed down Rukawa's shirt deliberately, coming to a halt below his hips. He felt suddenly uncomfortable. "And if my guess is correct you've been doing things to _that_ you don't want me knowing about."

There was silence. Rukawa's jaw clenched, and Sendoh worried for a split second that he would be punched in the face.

But the younger boy only turned away. "That's… because you are a teenage boy." He spoke finally, deliberating his choice of words. "With raging hormones," He added as an afterthought.

The boy was so cute. Sendoh wanted to tease him forever.

He leaned forward so he would be close enough to whisper in the other's ear. Rukawa had not really gotten the hang of styling his hair, he thought as he brushed the falling bangs out of his eyes. It felt weird seeing himself this close-up, but on another level, knowing that it was Rukawa and not himself in that boy, made everything feel more foreign than familiar.

"So, before," - even though he was hearing his own voice, it still seemed like Sendoh spoke in a pitch lower than Rukawa remembered how it was he sounded like, and the other boy left deliberate pauses after every single syllable - "why did you invite me to _play -_"

"I - " Rukawa said at the same time.

The room began to shake violently.

Sendoh broke out of his reverie first, darting forward to hold the dangerously tilting bookcase against the wall with his weight. The books had already began to slide off the shelves. At the topmost shelf, a dumbbell was teetering precariously on the edge, a few metres above his head.

"Rukawa, help me!" He yelled.

Rukawa lunged for it and missed, although he managed to send it flying in a different direction before crashing headfirst into Sendoh. He grasped frantically at the edge of the shelf to steady himself as the weight fell to the ground in a loud clatter. The shaking stopped then, but neither of them had the time to process that the door had swung open, revealing a familiar jersey-clad figure in the doorway.

"What are you two _doing_?"

Sakuragi's mouth was hanging open, his head rotating between the both of them.

Rukawa hastily removed his hands plastered against the bookshelf on either side of Sendoh but knew the damage was done. Sakuragi was not the smartest guy on the block, but even he could put two and two together.

"F-Foxboy…. p-porcupine head… you…" Rukawa closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact.

"You are _living together_?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author notes:<strong> Sorry for the wait, guys. It's hard to churn out an update with a full-time job, but I always enjoy writing this, and I hope you enjoy reading it too. Thank you also for all the precious comments.

Oh, and the earthquake? That was totally unintentional. *whistles* It's actually Rukawa backing Sendoh up against the bookshelf, but remember that they are in each other's bodies, which means that to Sakuragi, it looks like Sendoh backing Rukawa up against the wall. So interpret it the way you like. That's what I call true fanservice. *pats self on the back*


End file.
